Marthe Keller
| birth_place = Basel, Switzerland | spouse = | occupation = Actress, opera director | yearsactive = 1964–present | parents = | children = 1 }} Marthe Keller (born 28 January 1945) is a Swiss actress and opera director. Career Early years Marthe studied ballet as a child, but stopped after a skiing accident at age 16. She changed to acting, and worked in Berlin at the Schiller Theatre and the Berliner Ensemble.Cori Ellison (29 February 2004) "Reaching the Top of the Opera World by Accident." The New York Times. Film work Keller's earliest film appearances were in Funeral in Berlin (1966, in which she was not credited) and the German film Wilder Reiter GmbH (1967). She appeared in a series of French films in the 1970s, including Un cave (1971), La raison du plus fou (1973) and Toute une vie (And Now My Love, 1974). Her most famous American film appearances are her Golden Globe-nominated performance as Dustin Hoffman's girlfriend in Marathon Man (1976) and her performance as a femme fatale Palestinian terrorist who leads an attack on the Super Bowl in Black Sunday (1977). Keller acted alongside Al Pacino in the 1977 romantic drama film Bobby Deerfield, based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel Heaven Has No Favorites, and subsequently the two of them were involved in a relationship. She also acted alongside William Holden in Billy Wilder's 1978 romantic drama Fedora. After 1978, Keller worked more steadily in European cinema compared to American movies. Her later films include Dark Eyes (1987), with Marcello Mastroianni.Vincent Canby (25 September 1987) [http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=1&res=940CE1DF153AF936A1575AC0A961948260&oref "Dark Eyes, Comedy Based on Chekhov Tales."] The New York Times In April 2016, she was announced as the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Theater work In 2001, Keller appeared in an all-star Broadway adaptation of Abby Mann's play Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by John Tillinger, as Mrs. Bertholt, in the role played by Marlene Dietrich in the 1961 Stanley Kramer film version.Bruce Weber (27 March 2001) "On Evil and the Citizen, No Answers Are Easy." The New York Times''John Simon (9 April 2001) "Stoppard Unstoppered." ''New York Magazine She was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress for this performance. Opera work In addition to her work in film and theatre, Keller has developed a career in classical music as a speaker and opera director. She has performed the speaking role of Joan of Arc in Arthur Honegger's oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher on several occasions, with conductors such as Seiji OzawaDonal Henehan (13 December 1984) [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E3D71238F930A25751C1A962948260 "Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc."] The New York Times,''Bernard Holland (15 August 1989) [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D7173FF936A2575BC0A96F948260 ''"Joan of Arc at the Stake, A Honegger Extravaganza."] The New York Times and Kurt Masur.James R. Oestreich (8 April 1994) [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E4DA173EF93BA35757C0A962958260 "Masur's Jeanne d'Arc Gives Life to a Long-Ago Feminist."] The New York Times She has recorded the role for Deutsche Grammophon with Ozawa (DG 429 412-2). Keller has also recited the spoken part in Igor Stravinsky's Perséphone.''Anthony Tommasini (4 October 1999) "Masur and a Multitude Offer Seldom-Heard Stravinsky." ''The New York Times''Lloyd Schwartz (25 April to 1 May 2003) "Winding down or revving up?" ''The Boston Phoenix She has performed classical music melodramas for speaker and piano in recital.'Words of the Romantics, Accompanied by Piano." The New York Times, 23 March 1992. The Swiss composer Michael Jarrell wrote the melodrama Cassandre, after the novel of Christa Wolf, for Keller, who gave the world premiere in 1994. Keller's first production as an opera director was Dialogues des Carmélites, for Opéra National du Rhin, in 1999. This production subsequently received a semi-staged performance in London that year.Michael Billington (6 August 1999) "A soulful martyrdom." The Guardian. She has also directed Lucia di Lammermoor for Washington National Opera and for Los Angeles Opera.Joshua Kosman (15 December 2003) "Netrebko's voice buoys L.A. 'Lucia.'" The San Francisco Chronicle. Her directorial debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in a 2004 production of Don Giovanni.''Anthony Tommasini (3 March 2004) "A Monster From Mozart, Oozing Seductive Charm." ''The New York Times''Martin Bernheimer (3 March 2004) "Don Giovanni/Metropolitan Opera, New York." The London ''Financial Times.Peter G. Davis (22 March 2004) [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/classical/reviews/n_10057/ "Shaving Crème." New York Magazine] Personal life Keller has one son, Alexandre (born 1971), from her relationship with director Philippe de Broca. Theater Filmography References External links * * Yahoo! Movies biography of Marthe Keller * Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:People from Basel-Stadt Category:Swiss film actresses Category:Swiss stage actresses Category:Swiss television actresses Category:Swiss opera directors Category:20th-century Swiss actresses Category:21st-century Swiss actresses